News: RHP Rich Harden threw from 150 feet on Sunday, taking another small step in his return from a strained right shoulder. A's manager Bob Geren is optimistic Harden might be back on the roster in two weeks, though he probably would be in the bullpen while Oakland debates whether to return the injury-prone hurler to the rotation. "If everything went perfectly, he might be ready for an inning against St. Louis (June 15-17)."Analysis: Fantasy owners have to be especially alarmed by that comment by Geren. It looks like the Athletics are extremely concerned about Harden and his propensity for injury, so they might ship him off to the bullpen. Chad Gaudin has been tremendous in his stead, so the team might be afford to keep Harden in the bullpen and take it slowly with him. Stay tuned.

"If [Harden] did pitch one inning at a time, it would be toward the end of building him up as a starter," assistant GM David Forst said. "We have a closer. Rich Harden can be our best starter. I wouldn't say it's a shift in philosophy. ... Long-term, we still think this guy's one of the best starters in the league. Until he's ready to pitch six or seven innings in a game, we want Rich Harden to pitch for us in any capacity he can." While Harden's return is still around two weeks away in a bast-case scenario, it does seem likely that he'll temporarily serve as the A's closer upon his initial return.

I think the idea is that he will help stabilize the pen while Street and Douche are out, and build up his arm strength again. If you haven't noticed the Oakland pen is pretty bad right now. Everyone seems very clear that he will be a starter soon.